Hamburger Stew

This is hands down one of my husbands favorite meals. It is also a freezer meal. I love having a hearty meal I can grab from my freezer and have ready to eat in a fairly short amount of time.

Ingredients:
2lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
4 (14.5oz.) cans stewed tomatoes
8 medium carrots, thinly sliced. I use the pre-sliced carrots fresh carrots in the produce section to save time.
4 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 c. water
1/2 c. uncooked long grain rice
2 T. salt
2 t. pepper

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENT when thawing and serving: 1 & 1/2 c. water.

In frying pan or dutch oven, cook hamburger and onions until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to large stock pot. Add tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, water, rice, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables and rice are tender.

Uncover; simmer an additional 20-30 minutes or until thickened. Stir often, mixture can stick to the bottom of the pot very easily. Let cool a bit. Transfer to freezer tupperwear in 3 cup portions. Freeze. Yields 5 batches. Each batch serves 2, with second helpings.

To serve: Thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Transfer to sauce pan; add water. Heat until hot. OR You can skip thawing and put frozen block of stew directly in the sauce pan with water and heat covered on low to medium heat until thawed and stew is hot. I use the later method.